Obama - Awakening a Sleeping Giant

Sir Francis Bacon, the great English philosopher, scientist, lawyer, and statesmen once said “if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts.” This may ring true for the Obama Administration and many of Obama’s staunchest supporters, as Obama’s presidency has quickly hit turbulent waters after having cruised easily through the election with well-trimmed sails and a nicely set rudder.

On the other side of the political spectrum, people have accused Obama of enormous hubris and sarcastically referenced his status as a messiah of sorts: The One. After all, Obama had a plan to “remake America” and “spread the wealth around” – much to the disdain of the many Joe the Plumbers across the nation, yet to the delight of the academic elite parading within Obama’s circles. What with Democratic control in the House and the Senate – and not just Democrats, but very liberal Democrats in the best political position – this administration would prove to be a sure thing, with a certain outcome. Right?

Historically, Democrats have cornered the market on grass-roots activism to support their principal causes and have garnered attention for their most fringe ones as well, and their activism is something that Democratic political leaders could always rely upon. (Working in Manhattan I have on many occasions throughout the years had to step through throngs of people hailing for Bush’s arrest and for stopping the war in Iraq, and of PETA activists informing me that meat is murder.) For the most part, save for the occasional anti-abortion protests, conservatives are not activists. At least until now.

Earlier this year, in the wake of frustration with bailout funds, stimulus plans, and talk of tax increases on “wealthy” Americans, we saw numerous tax protests across the country. While tax protests are normally reserved for Libertarians, we witnessed many mainstream conservatives participate in these “tea parties,” each an obvious tip-of-the-hat to the Boston Tea Party, a precursor to “the shot heard ‘round the world.” The rage now is for conservatives to confront legislators at town hall meetings to protest Obamacare, rejecting any form of socialized medicine, capturing news headlines across the country. Recently a thirty-five year old stay-at-home mom, Katy Abram, confronted Senator Arlen Specter, challenging him in a voice quivering with her nervousness to tell her what he was going to do to restore America to an America consistent with the vision of its founding fathers. Mrs. Abrams claimed no involvement in politics, but warned Specter that he had “awakened a sleeping giant!” There must be millions more like her, rising up (or on the verge of) in protest, who like America the way it is… or perhaps was.

Politicians are ill-prepared for conservative activism; after all, it is so new. They have tried denial, claiming it is “fake” activism, organized by lobbyists – i.e. “Astroturf,” according to Nancy Pelosi, as opposed to truly grass-roots. They have lashed out at these town hall protestors, referring to them as “un-American,” “brown shirts,” “nazi-like” in their tactics. But however one chooses to view these tactics, they are tried and true, and straight from the playbooks liberals have used for decades. This is a medicine, formerly their own, and I wonder how it tastes to them now.

Conservatives appear to be enjoying their new voice. But by nature, with their general disdain for government, conservatives are less vocal, and we all know that the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Well, conservatives are squeaking like never before. I believe that most conservatives generally want to just go about their business, left alone, and want little from their government. Likewise, they want the government to stay out of their lives so they can enjoy the freedom and opportunity afforded by our country. They believe that America is special, and it should stay that way – that it should reject transnational overtures by groups such as the United Nations, who might suggest that the United States should do things “like everybody else.”

Perhaps conservatives have been pushed too far, to the detriment of those doing the pushing. There is an economic theory about taxation – the Laffer Curve – which suggests that there is a tax rate that when exceeded actually lowers tax revenue, perhaps as incentives to earn marginal income get taxed away, or increasing tax rates cause marginal income to more likely be deferred or sheltered. Maybe there is a similar curve, more social in orientation, whereby the conservatives’ tolerance to liberal ideology is surpassed, such that the liberal cause is diminished as a whole - conservatives having been pushed to the limit such that they not only reject but push back as well. I believe we may very well be at that point now.

Taking the healthcare issue, for instance, I have always accepted the status quo, and recognized healthcare insurance as an important part of my well being. Until recently, when I purchased my own health plan directly, I had always received and paid for health insurance through my employer. When confronted with taking my own position on Obamacare, which contemplates mandating employers either provide healthcare insurance or face penalties, I began to question why employers provide healthcare insurance in the first place –something I had never even thought about or questioned before.

Imagine the first company that provided access to health insurance as a benefit for its employees. What a novelty that must have been! And now, presumably decades later, what once was a novelty is now being codified into law? I would wager that more households have electricity, cable TV, and cell phones than an individual with a job. Why isn’t healthcare offered through these providers instead of employers? Where did this link between medical care and employment that we take for granted - as sure as gravity - come from? So now I am to the point of questioning the regulation of any employer benefit, and we have Obamacare to thank for that.

I tell you this to highlight the fact that new conservatives are born everyday – people that don’t even realize they are conservative because they’ve never had to think much about the issues. Sure, most people have taken a position on abortion, but that is no longer the conservative/liberal, Republican/Democrat litmus test.

Most of us accept that the feel-good ideology of the Democrat’s liberal base has always conflicted with the realistic pragmatism of conservative Republicans, but the centrists ultimately seemed to rule the day. This phenomenon allowed most people to find a way to live in comfort with political discourse, even to largely ignore it if they chose, and they were never too fearful of either the extreme right or their extreme left getting their way. But there is a new sheriff in town, from the left, unlike any we have ever seen, and his posse is like-minded. Talk of tax increases, fear of healthcare reform as a stepping stone to a single-payer system, gun control, legislating pay in the private sector, activist Supreme Court justices, big deficits, bigger role of government – some heavy stuff. Conservatives can no longer leave “their side” of the political discourse to Rush and the Fox network, not taking their part in it because they are too busy working, and well, taxes aren’t that bad. The Obama Administration has taken these issues to their doorsteps and knocked loudly. The sleeping giant is rubbing his eyes, waking up, and about to start stomping – who knew? - putting some doubt in the “certainty” of Obama.